Heading to Vegas

I think I had my best practice as a Mustang today. I was hitting people. I made good passes. I scored some goals in our three-on-three mini game. I just felt really confident out on the ice. It took a while for me to get comfortable in Bismarck too. I don't know what it is. I think my mind definitely plays tricks on itself. For some reason, I felt like I needed to be perfect when I first got here, for people to like me, for people to think I'm a good hockey player. But by trying to be perfect, I ended up making more mistakes. I'm not saying I haven't done well in the past month, but now I can feel myself getting more confident and more comfortable being here, and I can see it translate on the ice. I'm not worrying so much about making mistakes, and I'm not making as many mistakes. I'm starting to take risks, and I'm starting to do really well in practice. I still make the occasional stupid mistake, just like everyone else, but they're fewer and farther between. And now I feel like it's not such a big deal when I do make a mistake. I don't have to be perfect. I know my coaches and teammates believe in me, and I believe in myself too. I've put in the work to make myself better, and I know I can get much better still. I think Coach really believes I can get better, has seen me get better since I got here, and I think the talk I had with him the other day really infused me with more confidence. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

This weekend I'm going to Las Vegas to play for the Idaho Junior Steelheads in the WSHL Showcase. From what I've heard it's a temporary move, and it's just to get me into some games, so I can maybe play in some different situations that I haven't played in here in New Mexico yet. I'm excited about it. I need to play. And I think this weekend will definitely help me build confidence. I talked to the coach in Idaho today, and he asked me how many games I've played in this year. I said 7. He told me that it's nice to play at the highest level possible, but you also need to play, to experience game situations to get better. I agree. This weekend will be a good experience for me, and it'll give me a chance to play some games for one of the best teams in the country at the Tier III level. I'm really excited about the opportunity I have this weekend.